❓ The Minister for Police updates the house on the effectiveness of WA Police in stopping the supply of methamphetamine, highlighting seizures and legislative changes since the McGowan government took office. The answer also criticises the previous government's handling of the issue.
AnsweredQoN 245Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
METHAMPHETAMINE
245. Dr A.D. BUTI to the Minister for Police:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's commitment of more than $100 million to tackling the
scourge of methamphetamine in our community, including 100 extra police
officers for the meth border force. Can the minister update the house on how
effective the WA Police Force has been in continuing to stop the supply of
drugs into our community?
245. Dr A.D. BUTI to the Minister for Police:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's commitment of more than $100 million to tackling the
scourge of methamphetamine in our community, including 100 extra police
officers for the meth border force. Can the minister update the house on how
effective the WA Police Force has been in continuing to stop the supply of
drugs into our community?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Armadale for
his excellent question and for his support of police, certainly within his
community and broadly within Western Australia. As members of this house are
all too painfully aware, we saw the meth problem grow substantially in Western Australia
from 2009 to 2016. During that period, when the previous government was in
office, we saw quite a meth crisis develop. We know that occurred for a variety
of reasons. One was the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission's
wastewater drug monitoring program, which peaked in 2016, with Perth having the
highest consumption of meth of any city in Australia. It grew substantially
over that period because of the results from Drug Use Monitoring in Australia
showing the percentage of Perth watch house detainees who tested positive to
drugs, in particular, methamphetamine. In 2009, that was 20 per cent of
detainees. By 2016, it was up to 60 per cent of detainees. Commensurate with
that huge increase in meth use, we also saw a 37 per cent increase in crime in
2016. It is harder to measure the damage that has done to individuals and
families.
Since coming to government, we have
tackled this issue head on. The member for Armadale would be aware that the
first piece of legislation we introduced to this house dealt with meth
traffickers. We put in place a life sentence for offenders. We have also allocated
$101.4 million towards engaging an additional 100 police officers and 20 specialist
staff. We have put in place a meth truck and new specialist enforcement vans
for regional operations and equipped our police with modern devices such as Tru
Narc. We are seeing the results of that. The member asked what we have seen
recently. People are only too well aware that over the past couple of years,
police have seized over 1.5 tonnes of methamphetamine, which is huge. In the
last couple of weeks, some members may have seen a significant meth seizure,
with coordinated search warrants across Dianella, Morley and Gosnells, seizing
32.5 kilograms of meth, almost five kilograms of MDMA, plus a significant
quantity of cash. That was as a result of a joint investigation between WA
police and the ACIC. Police say that given the amount of meth and MDMA that
were part of that seizure, they are confident that an established criminal
network has been disrupted.
The other significant incident that
people may have seen in the media in the past week or so is the successful
extradition by WA police of a 57-year-old UK national who failed to appear in
court on significant drug-related charges.
He was arrested by Australian Border Force officers as he tried to escape on a jetski
across the Torres Strait . He will now face court in Western Australia.
Those people who are found guilty of trafficking meth face the very real
prospect of a life sentence in Western Australia.
his excellent question and for his support of police, certainly within his
community and broadly within Western Australia. As members of this house are
all too painfully aware, we saw the meth problem grow substantially in Western Australia
from 2009 to 2016. During that period, when the previous government was in
office, we saw quite a meth crisis develop. We know that occurred for a variety
of reasons. One was the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission's
wastewater drug monitoring program, which peaked in 2016, with Perth having the
highest consumption of meth of any city in Australia. It grew substantially
over that period because of the results from Drug Use Monitoring in Australia
showing the percentage of Perth watch house detainees who tested positive to
drugs, in particular, methamphetamine. In 2009, that was 20 per cent of
detainees. By 2016, it was up to 60 per cent of detainees. Commensurate with
that huge increase in meth use, we also saw a 37 per cent increase in crime in
2016. It is harder to measure the damage that has done to individuals and
families.
Since coming to government, we have
tackled this issue head on. The member for Armadale would be aware that the
first piece of legislation we introduced to this house dealt with meth
traffickers. We put in place a life sentence for offenders. We have also allocated
$101.4 million towards engaging an additional 100 police officers and 20 specialist
staff. We have put in place a meth truck and new specialist enforcement vans
for regional operations and equipped our police with modern devices such as Tru
Narc. We are seeing the results of that. The member asked what we have seen
recently. People are only too well aware that over the past couple of years,
police have seized over 1.5 tonnes of methamphetamine, which is huge. In the
last couple of weeks, some members may have seen a significant meth seizure,
with coordinated search warrants across Dianella, Morley and Gosnells, seizing
32.5 kilograms of meth, almost five kilograms of MDMA, plus a significant
quantity of cash. That was as a result of a joint investigation between WA
police and the ACIC. Police say that given the amount of meth and MDMA that
were part of that seizure, they are confident that an established criminal
network has been disrupted.
The other significant incident that
people may have seen in the media in the past week or so is the successful
extradition by WA police of a 57-year-old UK national who failed to appear in
court on significant drug-related charges.
He was arrested by Australian Border Force officers as he tried to escape on a jetski
across the Torres Strait . He will now face court in Western Australia.
Those people who are found guilty of trafficking meth face the very real
prospect of a life sentence in Western Australia.
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